The clashes between the new Syrian leader and the fighters loyal to the exiled dictator Bashar al-Assad and those loyal to the exiled dictator have killed many civilians, according to two war watch groups that reported that many were killed by the government's troops.
The UK-based Syrian Human Rights Observatory, which has been monitoring the Syrian conflict since 2011, said earlier Sunday that more than 1,000 people had been killed in the coastal provinces of Tartus and Latakia. That figure includes around 700 civilians, most of whom were killed by government fighters. Information could not be independently verified.
Another oversight group, Syrian Human Rights Network, previously reported that government security forces had killed around 125 civilians. It said that men of all ages were one of the victims, and the military did not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
An intelligence ministry official responding to accusations of killing a civilian said he had rejected “undocumented allegations accusing government forces of committing a violation.” However, they also said the government is committed to conducting a comprehensive investigation and will remain to explain those found to have hurt civilians.
“The Syrian government is making sure its forces are operating in accordance with strict standards that are respectful of international humanitarian law and are keen to protect civilians during operations,” the ministry said.
The observatory said that most of the civilians killed were from religious minorities of the Arawai people in the country where Al Assad belonged, but this could not be independently verified. The watchdog group said the scores of combatants on both sides of the conflict were also killed.
The Syrian Human Rights Network said Assad's loyalists had killed more than 100 security forces for the new government.
The Ministry of Defense told Syrian state media on Saturday afternoon that it had regained control of most regions stolen by the remnants of the previous regime, and that roads leading to coastal areas were closed “to regulate violations, prevent violations and gradually restore stability in the region.”
Uncertainty has been the bloodiest outbreak of violence since the Assad regime was ousted in early December by rebels who became the country's new leader. It presented a major test of the authority of the new government and raised the ghosts of a larger sectarian conflict in Syria. There, tensions were already high as a result of the civil war.
By Saturday afternoon, the Syrian red crescent had been granted permission to enter one of the towns to evacuate the injured, said Hydera Yunes, a spokesman for the Red Crescent branch of Tartus.
The clash began Thursday after Assad Loyalists were killed in the most deadly attack on Syrian new security forces after killing 16 government security personnel in Latakia, according to government officials and the observation deck.
The violence quickly spread across Latakia and Tartus provinces, and is the long-standing base of Al Assad along the Mediterranean coast and home to most of the Alawians in the country. The armed wreckage of the exiled regime is thought to be scattered across two states, and after more than 13 years of civil war, they presented challenges to the country's new leaders who were trying to unite the broken nation.
The government responded to Thursday's first attack, repeatedly deploying thousands of security forces and soldiers from other parts of the country to the coast. The government sought to present conflict as a legitimate authority to fight the remains of a brutal regime.
The new government forces deployed machine gun-equipped helicopters on the mountainsides of coastal areas on Thursday, according to coastal government officials. The helicopters have been deployed in areas where armed Assad loyalists are stationed, officials added.
Videos verified by the New York Times and shot along the coast west of Latakia Airport appear to show government fighters reusing Russian-made anti-submarine depth charging by dropping them as bombs from behind helicopters. A Latakia government spokesman did not respond to requests for comment on the video. Mohammed al-Osman, a journalist for Syrian state media, said the ammunition had been dropped into mountainous areas where the remnants of the old regime remained.
The Assad regime elicited international criticism for the frequent use of helicopters for indiscriminate bombings, dropping improvised “barrel bombs” on civilians for years. The use of anti-submarine ammunition for that purpose fits the old regime pattern of using things that can be manufactured or reused to launch air attacks via helicopters.
The munitions used in the helicopter attacks appeared to be Russian RBG-25 depth costs. It is usually released from ships for use against submarines, said Trevor Ball, a former US Army explosive weapons disposal engineer. They probably came from stocks in the old Assad regime, he said.
“This is very different from the way it's designed to deploy,” Ball said. “These don't cause as much damage as it would bomb the Assad regime, which Barrel commonly uses.”
Christina Goldbaum, Muhammad Haji Kadur and Reham Mourshed Reports of contributions.
